Freedom of Conscience in Postcolonial Hong Kong’s Religious Education: Lessons for Asian Plurality

This paper examines how freedom of conscience is configured in postcolonial Hong Kong’s curriculum, focusing on the Ethics and Religious Studies (ERS) subject as a hinge between constitutional guarantees and classroom practice. Drawing on a distinction between freedom of conscience and freedom of religion (Trigg, 2010; Maclure & Taylor, 2011) and on debates about “Asian values” in education (Bell & Ham, 2003; Cummings, 1996; see also Pye, 1985), I argue that Hong Kong’s Basic Law and denominational school system offer thick protections for religious institutions while providing thin safeguards for students’ autonomy—the right to believe, not believe, and change belief. Through qualitative analysis of ERS curriculum guides (2007, 2014, 2019, 2024) and Basic Law articles, paired with comparisons to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand, the paper shows how school systems promote civility, harmony, and orthodoxy while leaving conscience largely implicit, and sketches what a conscience-centred religious education might entail.